New York City // 28 July
Our second day was concentrated around the southern end of Manhattan as we had tickets booked to visit the Statue of Liberty. We had breakfast at the MacDonalds across the road from our subway station (setting ourselves up for a big day!) and caught the subway to the Occulus, the new transit center near the World Trade Center Memorial.
World Trade Center Memorial… The memorial fountains were huge and peaceful even with so many visitors.
Wall St and Battersea Park… We walked through the Financial District past the Stock Exchange and Wall St to Battersea Park where we were catching our ferry to Liberty Island.
Liberty Island and Statue of Liberty… We were at Battersea Park early for our ferry (timed tickets again) and they kindly let us join the queue. There was airport-style security to go through, and then (we found out) a huge crowd of people waiting to board the ferries. In the crazy heat we sweated it out together. I’m not sure if we got unlucky with the timing of the ferries but it was a long wait. About 2hrs from the time we first joined the security line, and half of that in the full sun waiting on the dock. The crowd really struggled in the heat. We were lucky to have plenty of water but some people were fainting and leaving the line. Finally we boarded the ferry and were glad to have the harbour breeze to cool us down. First stop on Liberty Island was the cafe and a shady spot for lunch. We had passes to go up to the top of the pedestal (there’s no access to the top of the statue at the moment) which was a great view and only about 200 steps(!!). We took our time exploring the statue, museum and relaxing in the shade. There was no rush back so we waited for the ferry line to ease.
Intrepid Museum… We were lucky to be in NYC for one of the Intrepid Museum’s ‘Free Friday’s’. It was open until 9pm with food markets and an outdoor movie. We arrived about 7pm, which was just long enough for an express visit. The Intrepid is a retired aircraft carrier and it has lots of restored aircraft on its deck, including a Concord and space shuttle. There’s also one of the first nuclear submarines and you are able to tour it. We could tour some of the inside of the aircraft carrier as well, which was set up with exhibits.
It was a huge day! We dragged our weary feet back to the RV park as the Drive-In movies were wrapping up. It was a relief to have a cool shower and relax in our air-conditioned caravan.